Photo courtesy of Stephen Cranford.
The picture on the cover of this issue – taken on Tom Baker’s very first day in his most famous role – captures Doctor Who in a moment of transition. And yet, as the Third Doctor gave way to an era that would prove even more successful, one important aspect of the series stayed the same.
This was the decade of the rock star Doctors. To many viewers in the 1970s, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker were larger-than-life personalities, indivisible from the bohemian eccentrics they played on screen. In common with the flamboyant musicians of the era, Pertwee and Baker enjoyed an almost mythical status. They lent Doctor Who a certain glamour that still – all these years later – helps to define what many fans regard as a golden age.